In the depths of the Central Ruins Realm.

Fierce winds tore through the skies. Howling and shaking the air, they greatly restricted visibility here. This was the center of the Central Ruins Realm, a true disaster zone. Every gust of wind that swept by contained a frighteningly destructive force.

However, the space that Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er occupied was completely calm and silent. Their power completely blocked off the storm howling around them and it was completely unable to penetrate the barrier they had erected.

Yun Shang obediently sat at Yun Che’s side, the hand that Yun Che was holding was drenched in sweat. She did not know who these two people beside her were or why they rescued her. She also had no clue as to what kind of fate was in store for her.

Her frail and delicate body tensed, and she still had not recovered from witnessing the apocalyptic destruction Yun Che had visited on the Central Ruins Battlefield just now... In front of that sort of disastrous power, things like life and death were so insignificant that his act of destruction hardly seemed cruel.

Yun Che turned around. With a flip of his hand, his fingers pressed into the girl’s arm. After that, his profound energy surged into her body, causing the girl to let out a startled and flustered cry. Her arm was immediately encased in a deep and profound purple light... Even though it was obstructed by her clothes, it was still dazzlingly bright.

“This seems to be a sort of bloodline ability,” Qianye Ying’er said. “Previously, Lu Bubai had sealed off her profound energy, but she was still able to release it. The only things that could accomplish such a feat are extremely rare bloodline abilities such as this one.”

It would definitely be hard for a normal person to understand just what a bloodline ability was. But what sort of existence was Qianye Ying’er... In fact, their Brahma God Clan did not only possess the extremely strong Brahma Soul power, they also possessed a divine bloodline ability unique to their clan.

The girl’s body trembled slightly and she was so nervous that she dared not speak. Besides fear, there was also deep shock in her bright eyes... Why was he able to cause my power to automatically appear?

As he looked at the mark of purple light on the girl’s arm, Yun Che’s started to stare.

Because, this was clearly a...

Profound Handle!

The Profound Handle that belonged solely to his Yun Clan!

Furthermore, when this girl had escaped her cage and launched a bolt of lightning at Lu Bubai while she was fleeing... the laws of lightning contained within that attack was extremely similar to his Yun Family’s clan profound art, the “Purple Cloud Art”!

Profound Handle... Purple Cloud Art... and this girl’s surname was also Yun...

“Where does your family reside? Why are they being pursued by the members of the Nine Lights Heavenly Palace?” Yun Che asked. “What exactly did they mean when they called your clan a ‘clan of sinners’?”

Yun Shang’s lips parted, but she did not speak. It was clear that she was still afraid... Even though it was Yun Che who had saved her from Lu Bubai’s clutches.

“Don’t worry. Since I saved you, I won’t harm you.” Yun Che’s tone grew slightly gentler. “Furthermore, my surname is also Yun.”-

But his words did not have too much effect... After his fate had been dramatically altered, Yun Che had undergone a complete and drastic change. It was as if his entire person was wrapped up in gloom and darkness, and his eyes were as gloomy and cold as an abyss. Even a single glance from him would cause a chill to run through that unfortunate person’s heart.

Besides, Yun Chang was only a young girl not even twenty years of age. Furthermore, she had not only seen how frightening he was, she was also in such close proximity to him right now.

But this time, her eyes, which had been filled with fear, steadied and her gaze fell on Yun Che’s neck. After that, she opened her mouth and actually said in a very soft voice, “A Glazed Sound Stone...”

Yun Che, “?”

“Was it given to you by your daughter?” Her lips moved slightly and her voice was very soft, but her question had come out of nowhere.

“...” Yun Che’s expression changed slightly and he replied, “Yes... How did you know?”

He had practically blurted out that question involuntarily.

“Because, before Daddy left, I also recorded my voice into a Glazed Sound Stone... They said that only immature girls would enjoy doing such a childish thing. But Daddy liked it a lot and he hung it around his neck... just like you.”

Yun Che, “...”

“You’re so powerful, yet you wear such an ordinary stone around your neck. So... it really was something that your daughter gave you.” Yun Shang looked up at him and before she knew it, her eyes had actually started to mist up, “It’s just that... it’s just that... I beg you, please don’t deceive your daughter, okay?”

“...What do you mean by that?” Yun Che’s brows twitched.

“Daddy clearly said that he would protect me forever and that he would not allow anyone to hurt me. But... but... he lied... and he never returned.” Yun Shang’s voice was trembling and tears started flowing down her face like water from a burst dam. The Glazed Sound Stone that hung around Yun Che’s neck had prodded the most painful scar in her heart.

“You...” Yun Che felt as if a poisoned blade had been thrust straight through his heart and soul in an incredibly cruel manner. His body violently swayed and his face instantly lost all of its color.

Qianye Ying’er took a step forward and grabbed Yun Che’s shoulder.

Yun Chang did not realize that Yun Che was acting strangely. Her gaze had been focused on the Glazed Sound Stone that hung around his neck from start to finish. “What a beautiful Glazed Sound Stone, you definitely have a daughter who loves you very much. I beg you... Don’t deceive her... Okay...”

Because she knew just how cruel this sort of “deception” was.

“Shut up!” Qianye Ying’er yelled in a frosty voice. “You are not to say another word!”

To the current Yun Che, there were not many things in the world that could move him... not even death.

But the dispirited and soft words of this girl whose heartstrings had clearly been plucked was the cruelest torture that could be inflicted on Yun Che right now.

“...” Yun Che’s chest heaved violently and he only managed to calm down after several breaths had passed. He gritted his teeth lightly and was about to speak. However, when he saw the tears slowly rolling down that girl’s face and that tearful gaze that was fixed to the Glazed Sound Stone around his neck, the words that were about to leave his mouth became lodged in his throat.

Yun Che shrugged off Qianye Ying’er’s hand and crouched slightly as he said, “Yun Shang, listen here. Answer my question... as long as you answer me honestly and truthfully, I can guarantee that I will return you back to your clan!”

“Ah...” The young girl’s beautiful eyes trembled and she vigorously wiped her face as she said, “You... aren’t lying to me?”

“I promise that I won’t deceive you!” Yun Che said with a focused look in his eyes. “I promise on my name as a father!”

“But shouldn’t everyone already know about the matter regarding the ‘clan of sinners’?” Yun Shang asked suspiciously. Because, according to her knowledge, this was something that should be common knowledge in the middle and lower star realms as well. It was not knowledge that only people on her plane of existence possessed.

“Then just tell me what you know,” Yun Che said. “First, answer this question. What is your clan called and which star realm do they reside in?”

“...” Yun Che’s attitude toward Yun Shang caused Qianye Ying’er’s eyebrows to sink a little. She shot Yun Shang a glance, and a hidden murderous intent suddenly flashed in the depths of her eyes.

“The Sinful Yun Clan,” Yun Shang replied. “This is what everyone calls our clan. The star realm we reside in is called the Thousand Desolation Realm.”

“Why are you called the Sinful Yun Clan?” Yun Che asked again. This word ‘Sinful’ was clearly meant to be an eternal mark of guilt that would hang over this clan’s head.

Yun Shang’s expression became a little sadder as she spoke in a soft voice, “Because our clan once committed an unforgivable crime... I heard Daddy tell me that our clan used to be called the ‘Heavenly Handle Yun Clan’ a very long time ago and even our star realm had been called by a different name. It had been called the ‘Heavenly Handle Cloud Realm’, not the Thousand Desolation Realm. At that time, our clan had been the most powerful ruling clan. Our ancestor and the clan chiefs of the past were the great realm kings of that star realm.”

“What great crime did your ancestors commit?”

Yun Shang said, “More than ten thousand years ago, the Lord Clan Chief... and the second clan chief of that era had very different views and thoughts. Then, one day, the second clan chief, along with many clansmen who agreed with him, fled the Heavenly Handle Cloud Realm... and they also fled the Northern Divine Region.”

“Fled the Northern Divine Region?” Qianye Ying’er gave a soft snort of disdain. “Isn’t that simply courting death!?”

The moment the devils from the Northern Divine Region were discovered by members of the other divine regions, they would definitely be pursued and killed. The stronger the devils were, the easier it was to discover them. Moreover, this person that Yun Shang called the “second clan chief” definitely possessed an extremely powerful darkness profound strength... Besides, he had not fled by himself, he had fled with a whole bunch of people.

Given the sensitivity the three other divine regions had towards darkness profound energy, in Qianye Ying’er’s eyes, this was indeed no different from courting death.

“I heard Daddy say that the second clan chief had found a method to completely disperse all the darkness profound energy in his body back then.” Yun Shang said something that would utterly shock anyone who heard it.

Yun Che, “...”

“Mn?” Qianye Ying’er’s brow furrowed slightly. “The moment darkness profound energy comes into contact with your body, there’s no way to get rid of it, and it will definitely be passed down to your descendants. Once you become a devil, all of your offspring will be devils as well. I have never heard of any case where the darkness in one’s profound strength can be washed away completely. If that could truly be realized, then all of the devils in this Northern Divine Region would have fled long ago.”

Yun Shang’s lips parted but she did not know how to explain this.

“Was the price for getting rid of their darkness profound energy the crippling of their profound strength beforehand?” Yun Che suddenly asked.

“Mn.” Yun Shang thought about it for a while before giving a light nod of her head. This was indeed something that was contained in the information given to her.

“But if it was just a portion of your clansmen breaking away from the main family, it would only be an internal matter. So why did it end up with all of you being labeled the ‘clan of sinners’?” Yun Che continued.

“Because when they fled from the Northern Divine Region, they also took a ‘sacred artifact’ that our clan had been guarding for generations.”

“What sacred artifact?”

“I don’t know.” The young girl shook her head. “I heard Daddy say that the Lord Clan Chief was the only person in the clan who knew what it was, even Daddy didn’t know. That ‘sacred artifact’ had always been guarded by our clan. Ten thousand years ago, the clan chief was even prepared to offer this sacred artifact to a king realm... It seemed as if this was precisely the reason that the second clan chief took the sacred artifact and fled the Northern Divine Region.”

Yun Che, “...”

“When the king realm discovered it, they were enraged and they said that our clan had presented the sacred artifact to the other three divine regions. They said it was an unforgivable betrayal and sin and they gave our clan an extremely terrifying punishment.”

“The seniors who were in charge of guarding the sacred artifact were all executed while the clan chief was grievously wounded and inflicted with a very dreadful ‘curse’, a ‘curse’ that could never be lifted. The place that had been previously known as the ‘Heavenly Handle Cloud City’ had become the ‘sinful region’ that imprisoned our clan, and the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan had also become the ‘Sinful Yun Clan’ which bore the mark of guilt and sin.”

Yun Shang said these words in a very calm manner. There was no sorrow in her voice, no anger or discontent about the unfairness of her fate. She had been born within the ‘sinful region’, she had grown up bearing the name of a ‘clan of sinners’ on her back, so she had long grown used to it.

“So the Nine Lights Heavenly Palace also resides in the same world as your clan, the ‘Thousand Desolation Realm’?” Yun Che asked.

“Mnn.” The young girl nodded her head. “Unless the members of our clan obtain permission from the ‘Thousand Desolation Divine Sect, we are not allowed to leave the ‘sinful region’ as we please. If we leave without permission, anyone can attack us and kill us. That is how Daddy was...”

Her voice ground to a halt as her delicate head drooped. When she opened her mouth to speak again, her voice had grown even softer. “This is the first time I have ever left the ‘sinful region’. Because the ‘time limit’ given to our clan is about to run out, the Clan Chief said that they had to help me flee, no matter what. But... but...”

“And what is this time limit you speak of?”

“...” This time, Yun Shang lapsed into a very long silence before she finally spoke in the softest of voices, “The king realms... assigned the Thousand Desolation Divine Sect to be the overseers and judges of the Yun Clan. If we are not able to find the sacred artifact, they are to kill one hundred of our clan members every year... If we are not able to find it within a thousand years, half of our clan will be executed... If we are not able to find it within ten thousand years... they can administer any punishment they want, including the complete and total destruction of our clan.”

——————

【PS1：I feel like I need to detail the various states of Yun Che’s profound handle at this current point in time：It is orange in its normal state → It is yellow when Yun Che opens up the Evil Soul gate → It is green when he opens up the Burning Heart gate → It is cyan when he opens up the Purgatory gate → It is blue when he opens up the Rumbling Heaven gate → It is purple when he opens up the Hell Monarch gate → ?】

【PS2：The mightiest form a profound handle can take is its purple form. It can handle seventy percent of its user’s profound strength and it is exceedingly rare. However, a very, very, very long time ago (in Chapter 292 y’all), it was mentioned that there were also records of a gold profound handle, that no one had ever seen before, that could handle one hundred percent of its users profound strength (A true shadow clone technique?)】

Words in italics were added by Dnton, so all of you don’t need to rummage through the earlier chapters to find the info.